Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Mike Hargrove, quitter

Lets take Mike Hargrove at his word for a moment. He's lost his passion. He's tired of being criticized in the papers. He wants to watch his kid play baseball. He's 57. He doesn't really need the money. He apparently made up his mind somewhere in the middle of 6 game losing streak.

I can't really argue with that. I have often worked with people who obviously did not like their jobs and I wonder why they keep doing it. So why should he?

I also think that in the long run, they are better off without him. Adam Jones needs to be up and playing this year and that wasn't going to happen on Hargrove's watch. Jose Vidro needs to find his way to the bench and that wasn't going to happen while Mike was here either, especially with Vidro "hitting" 295. Hopefully there is less bunting and more Broussard and days off for Richie against tough righties and Putz might pitch in a tie game before extra innings.

But the bottom line is that Hargrove quit. Few teams benefit from in-season managerial changes. I'm sure there are a lot of guys in the locker room wondering what the hell happened. I hope this doesn't torpedo a season that has so far wildly exceeded my expectations.